Hi,
I was hoping to gain a clearer understanding of what constitutes Sacred Tradition. Would you be able to give me a good definition and some good example?
Tradition is not “just” orally. It is more, “unwritten,” and continues living in the Church. It can be interpretations, And I wonder if Staples meant all Tradition is traceable to the single first-century deposit of faith, not that all dogmas were articulated by the Apostles in the 1st century. After all, Catholics teach that doctrine can develop. Protestants do too, such as how they accept the canon of Scripture, although they do not admit, or perhaps realize this.
Take an early example from the Early Church Father Origen on infant baptism:*
The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. The apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of the divine sacraments, knew there are in everyone innate strains of [original] sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit" (Commentaries on Romans 5:9 [A.D. 248]). *So sometimes, there is an ECF telling us that this has been a Tradition passed down.
Also, consider these definitions from the Church Herself on Tradition, perhaps these will help clarify. Catholic definitions of sacred Tradition:… in the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith
which has been believed everywhere, always, by all. For that is truly and in the strictest sense “Catholic,” which, as the name itself and the reason of the thing declare, comprehends all universally. This rule we shall observe if we follow universality, antiquity, consent.
We shall follow universality if we confess that one faith to be true, which the whole Church throughout the world confesses [note: as opposed to that which is merely regional]; antiquity,
if we in no wise depart from those interpretations which it is manifest were notoriously held by our holy ancestors and fathers [note: as opposed to something novel]; consent, in like manner, if in antiquity itself we adhere to the consentient definitions and determinations of all, or at the least of almost all priests and doctors. [St. Vincent of Lerins,
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3506.htm”]Commonitorium, ch. 2.6, 434 A.D]Therefore Christ the Lord in whom the full revelation of the supreme God is brought to completion (see Cor 1:20; 3:13; 4:6), commissioned the apostles to preach to all men that Gospel which is the source of all saving truth and moral teaching, and to impart to them heavenly gifts. This Gospel had been promised in former times through the prophets, and Christ Himself had fulfilled it and promulgated it with His lips. This commission was faithfully fulfilled by the
apostles who, by their oral preaching, by example, and by observances handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what He did, or what they had learned through the prompting of the Holy Spirit.(
Dei Verbum #7)It also clearly perceives that these
truths and rules are contained in the written books and in the unwritten traditions, which, received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ Himself, or from the Apostles themselves, the Holy Ghost dictating, have come down to us,
transmitted as it were from hand to hand. (
Council of Trent, Session IV, April 8, 1546)
Catechism #81 “And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching.”
Catechism #83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus’ teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.
A former classmate of Pope Pius XII, Monsignor George Agius wrote of Tradition in his book
Tradition and the Church:*Some of them had been originally written; others came to us orally, from father to son; or in a practical way, as through the ceremonies of the Church for instance. For this reason, Traditions are either written, oral or practical. Some Traditions are called Written Traditions because the word
Tradition may be taken in its widest signification, to include whatever has been delivered to us. In this sense, even the Scriptures may be called Traditions.*So if we can understand that even theological principles can be delivered to us, methods of interpretation, or ideas like interpreting Mary as the new Eve (which is a most ancient understanding), we can see how Tradition continues to unfold under the guidances of the Holy Spirit - even though there remains a single deposit of faith from which the truths flow. I think this line of theological thinking is represented in Paul’s teaching to his appointed bishop Timothy:*
Follow the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.” (2 Tim 1:13-14)*I think this passage may suggest that Paul is setting forth a “pattern”––not just a static shopping list of data. God’s word is quite living.
…I much prefer seeking consensus on a topic.